Opportunistic signal reception for mobile device position location estimation

ABSTRACT

Techniques are provided to initiate signal transmissions for possible opportunistic reception by a mobile device, and/or to initiate opportunistic reception of signal transmissions for use in mobile device position location estimation. For example, a mobile device may use assistance data to identify a first signal to be transmitted over a first frequency band and a second signal to be transmitted over a second frequency band during a specific period of time. At least a portion of the second frequency band may be outside of the first frequency band. The mobile device subsequently attempts to opportunistically receive at least the first signal and the second signal via a receiver tuned to a reception frequency band that encompasses at least the first frequency band and the second frequency band. The mobile device may then process the opportunistically received signals to obtain measurements corresponding to at least the first and second signals.

BACKGROUND

Field

Subject matter disclosed herein relates to wireless signal-basedposition location estimation, and more particularly to techniques thatmay be implemented, at least in a part, to initiate certain signaltransmissions for possible opportunistic reception by a mobile device,or to initiate an attempt by a mobile device to opportunisticallyreceive certain signal transmissions.

Information

The position location of a mobile device, such as a cellular telephone,may be useful or essential to a number of applications includingemergency calls, navigation, direction finding, asset tracking, Internetservice, or the like. The position location of a mobile device may beestimated based on information gathered from various systems. In awireless network implemented according to 4G (also referred to as FourthGeneration) Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access, for example, atransmitting device (e.g., a base station device) may transmit apositioning reference signal (PRS). A mobile device acquiring(receiving) PRSs transmitted by different base station devices mayobtain signal-based measurements that may be used in computing aposition location estimate of the mobile device, for example, byapplying observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) techniques.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctlyclaimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, both asto organization and/or method of operation, together with objects,features, and/or advantages thereof, it may best be understood byreference to the following detailed description if read with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating certain aspects of awireless network environment in which a mobile device may receivesignals from transmitting devices for use in position locationestimation, in accordance with certain example implementations;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating some features of anapparatus that may be implemented a mobile device, for example, as inFIG. 1, and configured to receive signals for use in position locationestimation, in accordance with certain example implementations;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating, in part, somefunctions that may be performed by an apparatus, for example, as in FIG.2, to receive signals for use in position location estimation, inaccordance with certain example implementations;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative diagram showing some known frequency and timefeatures relating to a positioning reference signal (PRS) that may betransmitted by a transmitting device and received by a mobile device,for example, as in FIG. 1, in accordance with an example implementation;

FIG. 5A is a timeline diagram illustrating transmission of a firstsignal, for example, a PRS transmitted over a wideband PRS frequencyband, in accordance with an example implementation;

FIG. 5B is a timeline diagram illustrating transmission of a secondsignal, for example, a PRS transmitted over a narrowband PRS frequencyband, in accordance with an example implementation;

FIG. 5C is a timeline diagram illustrating transmission of a secondsignal, for example, a PRS transmitted over a plurality of narrowbandPRS frequency bands according to a frequency hopping scheme, inaccordance with yet another example implementation;

FIG. 6 is a timeline diagram illustrating mobile device reception ofmultiple signals, for example, PRS as in FIGS. 5A-C, within a receptionfrequency band during a reception window, in accordance with an exampleimplementation;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are block diagrams illustrating processes that may beperformed by a mobile device, for example, as in FIG. 1, to receivesignals for use in position location estimation, in accordance withcertain example implementations;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating some features of a mobile device,in accordance with certain example implementations;

FIG. 9A is a block diagram illustrating a process that may beimplemented, at least in part, by one or more computing platforms of awireless network environment, for example, as in FIG. 1, to provideassistance data to a mobile device for use in receiving signals forposition location estimation, in accordance with certain exampleimplementations;

FIG. 9B is a block diagram illustrating a process that may beimplemented, at least in part, by one or more computing platforms of awireless network environment, for example, as in FIG. 1, to providesignaling data to one or more transmitting devices for use intransmitting signals for position location estimation, in accordancewith certain example implementations; and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating some features of a computingplatform, in accordance with certain example implementations.

Reference is made in the following detailed description to accompanyingdrawings, which form a part hereof, wherein like numerals may designatelike parts throughout that are identical, similar and/or analogous.References throughout this specification to “claimed subject matter”refer to subject matter intended to be covered by one or more claims, orany portion thereof, and are not necessarily intended to refer to acomplete claim set, to a particular combination of claim sets (e.g.,method claims, apparatus claims, etc.), or to a particular claim.Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken tolimit claimed subject matter and/or equivalents.

SUMMARY

In accordance with certain aspects, a method may be implemented by amobile device for use in measuring a plurality of signals, e.g., forposition location estimation. The method may comprise, based, at leastin part, on received assistance data, identifying at least a firstsignal to be transmitted over a first frequency band and a second signalto be transmitted over a second frequency band during a receptionwindow, wherein at least a portion of the second frequency band isoutside of the first frequency band. The method may comprisesubsequently receiving at least the first signal and the second signalvia a receiver tuned to a reception frequency band, wherein thereception frequency band encompasses at least the first frequency bandand the second frequency band. The method may comprise measuring a firsttime of arrival corresponding to reception of the first signal and asecond time of arrival of corresponding to reception of the secondsignal.

In accordance with another aspect, a mobile device may be provided whichcomprises a receiver and a processing unit. Here, for example, thereceiver may be configured to receive assistance data that is indicativeof a plurality of signals to be transmitted by one or more transmittingdevices, and to tune to a reception frequency band to receive at least afirst signal of the plurality of signals transmitted over a firstfrequency band and a second signal of the plurality of signalstransmitted over a second frequency band during a reception window,wherein the reception frequency band encompasses at least the firstfrequency band and the second frequency band, at least a portion of thesecond frequency band is outside of the first frequency band, and thesecond frequency band is narrower than the first frequency band. Theprocessing unit may be coupled to the receiver and configured todetermine the reception frequency band and the reception window based,at least in part, on the assistance data, measure a first time ofarrival corresponding to reception of the first signal and a second timeof arrival corresponding to reception of the second signal, and obtain alocation of the mobile device, wherein the location is based, at leastin part, on the first time of arrival measurement, the second time ofarrival measurement, or both.

In accordance with still another aspect, a method for use in a computingplatform may be provided. The method may comprise, with the computingplatform, receiving at least one indication of signal measuringcapability from a mobile device;

based, at least in part, on the at least one indication of signalmeasuring capability, generating: (1) assistance data for the mobiledevice; (2) signaling data for at least one transmitting device; or (3)both (1) and (2). The method may further comprise, with the computingplatform, providing the assistance data to the mobile device, orproviding the signaling data to at least the at least one transmittingdevice, or both.

In accordance with yet another aspect, a computing platform comprisingat least a communication interface and a processing unit may beprovided. For example, the communication interface which may be coupledto the processing unit may be configured to receive at least oneindication of signal measuring capability from a mobile device. Theprocessing unit may be configured to, based, at least in part, on the atleast one indication of signal measuring capability, generate: (1)assistance data for the mobile device, (2) signaling data for at leastone transmitting device, or (3) both (1) and (2). The processing unitmay further be configured to initiate transmission, via thecommunication interface, of the assistance data to the mobile device ifgenerated, and/or the signaling data to at least the at least onetransmitting device if generated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various example techniques are presented herein that may be of use by amobile device in measuring certain characteristics of wireless signalsto support wireless signal-based position location estimation. Some ofthese techniques may permit a mobile device to operate more efficientlyor effectively by opportunistically receiving (from the sametransmitting device or from different transmitting devices) andmeasuring two or more wireless signals for use in position locationduring a particular period of time by tuning a receiver to anappropriate reception frequency band encompassing the respectivefrequency bands of the two or wireless signals.

By way of an initial example, a mobile device may be configured toreceive assistance data and process the received assistance data toidentify that at least a first signal is to be transmitted over a firstfrequency band and a second signal is to be transmitted over a secondfrequency band during a reception window. In certain instances, at leasta portion of the second frequency band may be outside of the firstfrequency band. Furthermore, in certain instances, the first and secondfrequency bands may have different bandwidths. For example, in someinstances the second frequency band may be significantly narrower inbandwidth than the first frequency band. The mobile device maysubsequently receive at least the first signal and the second signalusing a receiver that is opportunistically tuned to a receptionfrequency band that encompasses at least the first frequency band andthe second frequency band. The mobile device may further measure a firsttime of arrival corresponding to reception of the first signal and asecond time of arrival of corresponding to reception of the secondsignal. One or more of such measured times of arrival may be used todetermine a position location estimate of the mobile device, e.g., usingknown multilateration (e.g., trilateration) techniques. A determinationof a position location estimate may be performed by the mobile devicealone, by one or more other devices, or by the mobile device along withone or more other devices.

By way of a specific example, in certain implementations a mobile devicemay be configured to measure positioning reference signals (PRSs) orother signals that may be useful for wireless signal-based positionlocation estimation using observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) orother like techniques. While some of the examples presented hereinreference the use of PRSs and OTDOA, it should be understood thatclaimed subject matter is not intended to be limited to just theseexamples.

As described in greater detail herein, a mobile device may generate asignal reception plan based, at least in part, on assistance datareceived from another device (e.g., a location server, a network node,or the like). Received assistance data may comprise information toindicate that one or more transmitting devices are capable oftransmitting wireless signals to the mobile device, e.g., to supportposition location estimation. For example, assistance data may identifyone or more serving or neighbor base station devices, beacontransmitting devices, or the like, which are each capable oftransmitting a PRS. Received assistance data may comprise timing,schedule or other related information to indicate that, during one ormore specific periods of time in the future (e.g., possiblycorresponding to all or part of one or more particular measurementoccasions, all or part of one or more particular measurement gaps,etc.), the mobile device may be able to receive one or more PRSs thatare expected to be transmitted by one or more transmitting devices. Forexample, received assistance data may indicate timing offset values orthe like for an expected PRS transmission. Received assistance data maycomprise frequency band related information corresponding to aparticular transmitting device, a particular PRS transmission, etc. Forexample, received assistance data may be indicative of a predefinedchannel or a center frequency and bandwidth corresponding to wirelesssignal to be transmitted by a specific transmitting device, possiblyassociated with a particular (e.g., neighbor) cell. Received assistancedata may, for example, indicate that a specific transmitting device isexpected to transmit a “wideband” PRS, a “narrowband” PRS, or possiblyboth. Indeed, some received assistance data may be likewise indicativeof a plurality of expected PRS transmissions associated with a pluralityof transmitting devices, possibly associated with one or more cells,which may comprise “wideband” PRSs, “narrowband” PRSs, or somecombination thereof.

As illustrated in greater detail herein, a wideband PRS may betransmitted over a wideband PRS frequency band, and a narrowband PRS maybe transmitted over one or more narrowband PRS frequency bands (forexample, in certain implementations some narrowband PRS may betransmitted according to a frequency hopping scheme). In certaininstances, a wideband PRS frequency band may overlap at least a portionof one or more narrowband PRS frequency bands. In still other instances,a narrowband PRS frequency band may overlap at least a portion of aguard-band or other like part of a wideband PRS frequency band. In yetanother instance, a particular narrowband PRS frequency band may beoutside of any part of a given wideband PRS frequency band.

As used herein, the terms “wideband” and “narrowband” are intended tosimply indicate that, in a relative sense, the intended frequency bandof a “wideband” transmitted signal is greater (wider) than the intendedfrequency band of a “narrowband” transmitted signal. Thus, while some(possibly standardized) communication systems may define specificchannels, frequency bands, bandwidths, center frequencies, etc.,corresponding to certain wideband and narrowband wireless signals,subject matter claimed herein is not intended to be so limited.

As described in greater detail herein, based at least in part onreceived assistance data, a mobile device may determine that one or moreopportunities exist in the future for which it may plan to tune (e.g.,adjust, set, etc.) a frequency band of a receiver of an onboardcommunication interface (e.g., radio, modem) to cover a specificplurality of PRS frequency bands. For example, a mobile device may applya signal reception plan that may specify a reception frequency bandcorresponding to a reception window. For example, a reception frequencyband may indicate channel(s), or a center frequency and bandwidth, orthe like, that may be used to initiate subsequent reception andmeasurement of one or more wideband PRSs transmitted over one or morewideband PRS frequency bands and one or more narrowband PRSs transmittedover one or more narrowband PRS frequency bands. Accordingly, the mobiledevice may measure times of arrival or other characteristics for aplurality of PRS that are received during a single period of time. Thus,rather than having to separately receive PRSs transmitted over differentfrequency bands during different multiple different measurementoccasions or possibly multiple different measurement gaps, it may bepossible in certain instances, to opportunistically receive a pluralityof PRSs during a reception window that may possibly be a relativelyshorter period of time (e.g., during all or part of a measurementopportunity, during all or part of a measurement gap, etc.). In certaininstances, a plurality of reception windows may be planned and used, butwhich may still improve the efficiency of a mobile device at least withregard to receiving and measuring signals over time.

A mobile device may be configured to transmit provide signal measurementinformation to one or more other devices. For example, signalmeasurement information may indicate a first time of arrival measurementfor a first signal, a second time of arrival measurement signal, etc.Such signal measurement information may permit a location servicecapability to determine a position location estimate of the mobiledevice. For example, a location server or other like network capabilitymay provide a network-based or possibly network-assisted locationservice to perform multilateration or other like applicable techniquesbased, at least in part, on one or more signal measurements provided bythe mobile device. Of course, in certain instances, the mobile devicemay be configured provide similar mobile device-based location services.

In certain implementations, as described in greater detail herein, amobile device may transmit one or more signals to one or more otherdevices, to indicate one or more signal measuring capabilities of themobile device. For example, an indication of a signal measuringcapability may correspond to certain limitations or other operatingcapabilities of a receiver. Thus, an indication of signal measuringcapability may indicate a maximum tunable bandwidth, a range or list ofchannels or frequency bands supported, or other like informationrelating to one or more onboard receivers. In another example, anindication of a signal measuring capability may correspond to a maximum,minimum or some other preferred contiguous period of time during whichmultiple signals (e.g., PRSs) may be received by an onboard receiver orotherwise processing (e.g., decoded, measured). Similarly, an indicationof a signal measuring capability may correspond to an availableprocessing capability that may affect how many or possibly the types ofsignals that a mobile device may be configured to process (e.g.,receive, store, decode, measure, etc.). Of course, these represent justa few examples, and claimed subject matter is not necessary so limited.

Attention is now drawn to FIG. 1, which is a schematic block diagramillustrating certain aspects of a wireless network environment 100 inwhich a mobile device 102 may receive signals (e.g., 111-1, . . . ,111-n, 119) from respective transmitting devices (e.g., 110-1, . . . ,110-n, 118) for use in position location estimation, in accordance withcertain example implementations.

As illustrated, mobile device 102 may comprise an apparatus 104.Apparatus 104 may be configured to apply a signal reception plan thatallows mobile device to opportunistically measure multiple differentsignals. FIG. 2 below presents some features that may be provided in anexample apparatus 104.

Wireless network environment 100, as shown in FIG. 1, may comprise atleast a portion of at least one wireless network 106, as represented, inpart, by a plurality of transmitting devices 110-1, 110-2, through,110-n. As illustrated transmitting device 110-1 may, at times, transmitat least one signal 111-1 that may be received and measured by apparatus104 for position location purposes. Similarly, transmitting devices110-2 through 110-n may each, at applicable time(s), transmitcorresponding signals 111-2, through 111-n, each of which may bereceived and measured by apparatus 104 for position location purposes.In certain implementations, two or more of transmitting device 110-1,110-2, . . . , 110-n may be of the same or similar type(s) of device,for example, base station devices, access point devices, beacon devices,etc.

One or more other transmitting devices may be provided, for example, asrepresented by transmitting device 118 which may, at times, transmit oneor more corresponding signals, represented by signal 119, that may bereceived and measured by apparatus 104 for position location purposes.Transmitting device 118 may or may not be part of wireless network 106,and may or may not comprise a same or similar device as one or more ofthe transmitting devices of wireless network 106.

As shown in FIG. 1, the various transmitting devices in wireless networkenvironment 100 may be operatively coupled to or otherwise possiblyinterconnected by other devices and resources, represented by network(s)112. In a particular example, network(s) 112 may comprise all or part ofthe Internet which may include or otherwise provide connectively to oneor more computing platforms, as represented by other device(s) 114, andwhich may be configured to provide assistance data 116 relating to thetransmission of one or more signals 111-1, . . . , 111-n, 119. By way ofan example, other device(s) 114 may comprise a location server.Assistance data 116 may be provided to mobile device 102 and used, atleast in part, by apparatus 104 to determine a signal reception plan inaccordance with one or more of the example techniques provided herein.As further illustrated, in certain implementations, signaling data 150may be provided to one or more transmitting devices, for example, byother device(s) 114 (e.g., a location server) which may indicate to howa particular transmitting device is to transmit signals to mobiledevices for use in position location estimation. For example, signalingdata 150 may indicate frequency and timing information to transmitterdevice 118 with regard to signal 119. As described in greater detailherein, in certain implementations, signaling data 150 may bedetermined, e.g., by other device(s) 114 based, at least in part, on oneor more indications of a signal measuring capability for mobile device102. As such, in certain instances, all or part of assistance data 116may correspond to all or part of signaling data 150, since both may beindicative of future signaling to support position location estimationof mobile device 102.

As further shown in FIG. 1, mobile device 102 may be configured toreceive one or more satellite positioning system (SPS) signals 121transmitted by one or more space vehicles (SVs) of one or more SPS 120.In certain instances, a position location estimate of mobile device 102may be based, at least in part, on one or more measurements of one ormore SPS signals 121. SPS 120 may comprise a Global Navigation SatelliteSystem (GNSS), such as, e.g., Global Positing System (GPS), GLONASS,Galileo, Beidou, or other like satellite navigation system.

Although signals 111-1, . . . , 111-n and 119 have been described asrepresenting example downlink signals that may be used in positionlocation estimation, it should also be understood that the samereferenced wireless communication connections/links may similarlyrepresent the transmission of other types of downlink or even uplinksignals. Thus, for example, assistance data 116 may be requested andpossibly received via signaling represented in part by signal 111-1 orsignal 119.

Attention is drawn next to FIG. 2, which is a schematic block diagramillustrating some features of an example implementation of apparatus 104that may be implemented mobile device 102, for example, as in FIG. 1.Apparatus 104 may be configured to receive signals, such as, forexample, one or more of signals 111-1, . . . , 111-n, or 119, for use inposition location estimation.

As shown apparatus 104 may comprise a processing unit 202, a receiver210, a memory 204, some or all of which may be interconnected via one ormore connections 206. Processing unit 202 may comprise circuitry(possibly programmed circuitry), that may be configured to apply asignal reception plan 270 or the like to affect operation of receiver210. In some implementations, processing unit 202 may determine all orpart of signal reception plan 270 or the like based, at least in part,on received assistance data 250. In certain other implementations,however, received assistance data 250 may already comprise all or partof signal reception plan 270.

For illustration purposes, FIG. 2 shows that, at times, memory 204 maycomprise data representing all or part of received assistance data 250,all or part of one or more indications of a signal measuring capability260, and/or all or part of signal reception plan 270. Processing unit202 may directly or indirectly access memory 204, e.g., to request data,provide data, retrieve/read data, store/write data, etc. In certaininstances, data stored in memory may represent computer implementableinstructions executable by processing unit 202, or possibly by otherfeatures of apparatus 104.

As shown in FIG. 2, a communication interface 208, in addition tocomprising a receiver 210, may comprise a transmitter 212 for use intransmitting signals to one or more transmitting devices, or possibly toone or more other devices (e.g., directly or via a transmitting device).In certain example implementations, receiver 210 and transmitter 212 maybe part of a transceiver or other like component. Communicationinterface 208 may directly or indirectly access memory 204, e.g., torequest data, provide data, read data, write data, etc.

In certain implementations, communication interface 208 may be used byapparatus 104 to obtain at least a portion of received assistance data250. In certain implementations, communication interface 208 may be usedby apparatus 104 to provide one or more indications of signal measuringcapability 260 to one or more other devices. As mentioned previously,one or more indications of signal measuring capability 260 may be based,at least in part, on one or more capabilities of receiver 210 to receivesignals for use in position location estimation from one or moretransmitting devices. By way of example, one or more indications ofsignal measuring capabilities may correspond to a tunable or otherwiseapplicable frequency band limitation (e.g., a maximum supportedfrequency band, a minimum frequency band) of RF front-end or other likeportion (not shown) of receiver 210. In another possible example, one ormore indications of signal measuring capabilities may correspond to asignal processing limitation corresponding to receiver 210, or someother portion of apparatus 104, e.g., a baseband processor (not shown)but which may be represented by processing unit 202, or the like. Here,for example, a signal processing limitation may relate to the maximumnumber of separate signals that may simultaneously, or over some definedperiod of time, be decoded or otherwise obtained from common signalingdata captured by receiver 210 when operated in accordance with signalreception plan 270.

Attention is drawn next to FIG. 3, which is a schematic block diagramcomprising functional diagram 300 which may be implemented, at least inpart, by apparatus 104, in accordance with certain exampleimplementations. Functional diagram 300 also corresponds, in part, tosome functionality that may be implemented by one or more other devicesexternal to apparatus 104, in accordance with certain exampleimplementations.

In FIG. 3 an apparatus 104 (e.g., processing unit 202 or the like) maybe configured as a signal reception planner 302. Signal receptionplanner 302 may access at least portion of received assistance data 250and based, at least in part thereon, determine (e.g., calculate,generate, obtain, identify, etc.) all or part of signal reception plan270. In certain implementations, signal reception planner 302 may beconfigured to determine a signal reception plan 270 based, at least inpart, on one or more indications of signal measuring capability 260.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, in certain example implementations, receivedassistance data 250 may comprise wideband signal data 304 and narrowbandsignal data 306. Wideband signal data 304 may indicate, for example,that one or more transmitting devices (see, e.g., FIG. 1) are expectedto transmit a particular (wideband) PRS during one or more measurementoccasions. Narrowband signal data 306 may indicate, for example, thatone or more transmitting devices (see, e.g., FIG. 1) are expected totransmit a particular (narrowband) PRS during one or more measurementoccasions.

By way of example, wideband signal data 304 may indicate that a firsttransmitting device (e.g., a serving cell base station device, neighborcell base station device, etc.) is expected to transmit a first PRS overa wideband PRS frequency band (e.g., a 20 MHz band centered at aparticular frequency) during at least a first measurement occasion.Narrowband signal data 306 may, for example, indicate that a particulartransmitting device, possibly the first transmitting device or a secondtransmitting device (e.g., a serving cell base station device, neighborcell base station device, PRS beacon device, etc.) is expected totransmit a second PRS over a narrowband PRS frequency band (e.g., 1.4MHz or possibly 5 MHz band centered at one or more specific frequencies)during at least a second measurement occasion. Accordingly, widebandsignal data 304 and/or narrowband signal data 306 may includeinformation indicating that a plurality of PRS or other like signals(for example, possibly CRS) are expected to be transmitted in thefuture.

Signal reception planner 302 may determine signal reception plan 270based, at least in part, on information in received assistance data 250.For example, a signal reception planner 302 may determine whether theremay be a reception window (e.g., a specific period of time in thefuture) wherein receiver 210 may possibly be configured to receive awideband PRS and at least one narrowband PRS, and wherein at least aportion of the corresponding narrowband PRS frequency band is outside ofthe corresponding wideband PRS frequency band. Such a determination maybe based, at least in part, on one or more indications of signalmeasuring capability 260.

By way of example, reception planner 302 may compare expected widebandPRS transmission timing and frequency information to like informationfor one or more narrowband PRS, and if such a comparison of timing andfrequency information meets certain related criteria (e.g., indicated byone or more indications of signal measuring capability 260) then signalreception plan 270 may include timing and frequency related informationfor use in affecting operation of apparatus 104 to attempt toopportunistically receive and measure both the applicable wideband PRSand narrowband PRS during at least a portion of the specified period oftime.

In an example implementation, one or more indications of signalmeasuring capability 260 may be indicative or otherwise based, at leastin part, on a capability of apparatus 104 to receive and process signalsrelating to position location. Thus, apparatus 104 may be limited byfrequency and frequency bandwidth limitations associated with receiver210 (possibly resulting from and analog front end design, basebandprocessing design, antenna design, or other like limitations). By way ofexample, in certain implementations receiver 210 of apparatus 104 (seeFIG. 2) may be tunable to a maximum frequency band (bandwidth) of 80 MHzor 100 MHz at certain center frequencies. In a similar manner, apparatus104 may be limited by decoder or other like (baseband) processinglimitations associated with receiver 210, other components (processingunit 202, memory 204, connections 206, etc.) to only being able toattempt to measure a certain number of signals (e.g., two PRS, threePRS, M number PRS, etc.). Such indications of signal measuringcapabilities may be used to determine certain threshold or othercriteria by signal reception planner 302. Of course, claimed subjectmatter is not intended to necessarily be limited by any of theseexamples.

As further illustrated in FIG. 3, signal reception plan 270 may beimplemented in apparatus 104 to perform signal reception 310 and signalmeasurement 312. In signal reception 310, for example, receiver 210 maybe (timely) tuned to a reception frequency band that encompasses awideband PRS frequency band and also at least one narrowband PRSfrequency band. Receiver 210 may be timely tuned to a receptionfrequency band in advance of a reception window, to coincide with areception window, or possibly during a reception window. In certainimplementations, all or part of signal reception 310 and all or part ofsignal measurement 312 may be performed by receiver 210 (see FIG. 2).All or part of signal measurement 312 may be performed by processingunit 202 (see FIG. 2), in certain implementations, which may represent abaseband processor or the like.

As further shown in FIG. 3, one or more of the measurements resultingfrom signal measurement 312 may be used for position locationestimation. For example, one or more time of arrival (TOA(s)) 313 may bemeasured in signal measurement 312. In certain implementations, aspreviously mentioned, all or part of position location estimate 314 maybe performed by mobile device 102, possibly by apparatus 104, usingknown techniques. In other implementations, all part of positionlocation estimate 314 may be performed by one or more external devices(computing platforms).

FIG. 3 illustrates that, in certain implementations, one or moreindications of signal measuring capability 260 may be provided to one ormore external devices, e.g., possibly for use in generating assistancedata 316. Thus, for example, a computing platform of other device(s) 114(see FIG. 1) may specifically generate (or adjust/tailor), at least aportion of assistance data 116 based, at least in part, on one or moreindications of signal measuring capability 260 for mobile device 102. Anindication of signal measuring capability 260 for mobile device 102 maybe obtained by other device(s) 114, for example, directly or indirectlyfrom mobile device 102 (e.g., possibly as part of a position locationrelated request message, as part of a handshake or other like process,in response to an inquiry, etc.). In some implementations, one or moreindications of signal measuring capability for mobile device 102 may bedetermined by other device(s) 114, possibly based on other sources ofinformation external to the mobile device. For example, other device(s)114 may determine one or more indications of signal measuring capabilityfor mobile device 102 based, at least in part, on a database comprisingapplicable profile/specification information for different models ortypes of mobile devices or components therein. As mentioned, in certainimplementations, assistance data 116 (see FIG. 1) may, in certainimplementations, comprise all or part of signal reception plan 270 whichmay reduce the complexity of processes of signal reception planner 302,or possibly even eliminate the need for a signal reception planner 302in apparatus 104.

Attention in drawn next to FIG. 4, which is an illustrative diagramshowing portions of a structure of an exemplary LTE subframe sequencewith PRS positioning occasions 410, with expanded details of a subframeportion 400 showing an example group of subcarriers 402 with respect toa signal frequency and time per reference key 401.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, time is represented horizontally(e.g. on an X axis) with time increasing from left to right, whilefrequency is represented vertically (e.g. on a Y axis) with frequencyincreasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top. As shown in FIG. 4, LTERadio Frames 412 are of 10 ms duration each. For downlink FrequencyDivision Duplex (FDD) mode, Radio Frames 412 are organized into tensubframes of 1 ms duration each. Each subframe portion 400 comprises twoslots 408, each of 0.5 ms duration.

In the frequency domain, the available bandwidth of the frequency bandmay be divided into uniformly spaced orthogonal subcarriers 402. Forexample, for a normal length cyclic prefix using 15 KHz spacing,subcarriers 402 may be grouped into a group of twelve subcarriers. Eachgrouping, which comprises twelve subcarriers 402, in FIG. 4, mayrepresent a resource block (RB) and, in the example above, the number ofsubcarriers in the resource block may be written as N_(SC) ^(RB)=12. Fora given channel bandwidth 406, the number of available resource blocksmay be indicated as N_(RB) ^(DL). For example, for a 3 MHz channelbandwidth in the above example, the number of available resource blockson each channel is given by N_(RB) ^(DL)=15.

In an example LTE wireless network, a transmitting device such as a basestation device (e.g., an Evolved Node B (eNB)) may transmit a PRS (e.g.,a downlink PRS), during PRS positioning occasion(s) 410 as illustratedin FIG. 4, which may be measured and used for mobile device 102 positionlocation estimation. Since transmission of a PRS by a transmittingdevice may be directed to all mobile devices within radio range, thetransmitting device may also be considered to “broadcast” a PRS. Atransmitting device that does not support all the normal transceiverfunctions of a base station device (e.g., an eNB) but that transmits (orbroadcasts) a PRS may comprise a terrestrial beacon system (TBS) beacon,a TBS transmission point (TP), a PRS-only TP, a positioning beacon, apositioning only beacon, a PRS only beacon, an eNB beacon, a standaloneeNB beacon, or a Radio Access Network (RAN) beacon, just to name a fewexamples. As such, in certain implementations, a transmitting device maycomprise applicable devices in a RAN that transmit PRS to assist inmobile device position location estimation and which may or may notsupport other functions such as providing wireless access (e.g. forvoice and data connectivity) to one or more UEs. Thus, for example, atransmitting device may correspond to a base station device such as, forexample, an eNB, or possibly an eNB beacon, a standalone eNB beacon, orsome other applicable type of positioning beacon. In some embodiments, atransmitting device may provide additional LTE/PRS coverage for indoorlocations, for example, to support functions of an eNB or of a remoteradio head for an eNB. In some embodiments, a transmitting device mayact as a standalone beacon that may transmit a PRS and may also transmitinformation needed to support mobile device acquisition and measurementof the PRS such as an LTE master information block (MIB) and one or moreLTE system information blocks (SIBs) but may not transmit or receivedata or control information to support normal LTE access by mobiledevices (e.g., may not support wireless access by mobile devices for thepurpose of sending and receiving voice and data).

A PRS, which in certain implementations, may be defined (for example) in3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) Release-9 and later releases, may betransmitted by a transmitting device after appropriate configuration bya Transmission Point Controller (TPC) and/or an O&M server. A PRS may betransmitted in special positioning subframes that are grouped intopositioning occasions 410. For example, in LTE, a PRS positioningoccasion can comprise a number N_(PRS) 414 of consecutive positioningsubframes where the number N_(PRS) may be between 1 and 160 (e.g. mayinclude the values 1, 2, 4 and 6 as well as other values). The PRSpositioning occasions for a transmitting device may occur periodicallyat intervals, denoted by a number T_(PRS), of millisecond (or subframe)intervals where T_(PRS) may equal 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, or1280. As an example, FIG. 4 illustrates a periodicity of positioningoccasions where N_(PRS) 414 equals four and T_(PRS) 416 is greater thanor equal to twenty. In some embodiments, T_(PRS) may be measured interms of a number of subframes between the start of consecutivepositioning occasions 410.

Within each positioning occasion, a PRS may be transmitted with aconstant power. A PRS may also, in certain instances, be transmittedwith zero power (e.g., muted). Muting, which essentially turns off aregularly scheduled PRS transmission, may be useful when PRSs betweendifferent cells overlap by occurring at the same or almost the sametime. In this case, PRS from some cells may be muted while PRSs fromother cells are transmitted (e.g. at a constant power). Muting may aidsignal acquisition and Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD)measurement by a mobile device for PRSs that are not muted by avoidinginterference from PRSs that have been muted. Muting may be viewed as thenon-transmission of a PRS for a given positioning occasion for aparticular cell or transmitting device. Muting patterns may beidentified using bit strings. For example, in a bit string signaling amuting pattern, if a bit at position j is set to “0”, then a mobiledevice may infer that the PRS is muted for a j^(th) positioningoccasion. Hence, a signal reception plan 270 (see, FIGS. 2 and 3) may bebased, at least in part, on one or more muting patterns, or other likeinformation.

To further possibly improve acquisition of PRS, positioning subframesmay be low-interference subframes that are transmitted without user datachannels. As a result, in ideally synchronized networks, PRSs mayreceive interference from other cell PRSs with the same PRS patternindex (i.e., with the same frequency shift), but not from datatransmissions. A frequency shift, in LTE, for example, is defined as afunction of a PRS ID for a cell or TP (denoted as N_(ID) ^(PRS)) or as afunction of a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) (denoted as N_(ID) ^(cell))if no PRS ID is assigned, which results in an effective frequency re-usefactor of six.

To possibly improve acquisition of a PRS further (e.g. when PRSbandwidth is limited such as with only six resource blocks correspondingto a (relatively) narrowband of 1.4 MHz), the frequency band forconsecutive PRS positioning occasions (or consecutive PRS subframes) maybe changed in a known and predictable manner via a frequency hoppingscheme. In addition, a transmitting device may in certainimplementations support more than one PRS configuration, where each PRSconfiguration comprises a distinct sequence of PRS positioning occasionswith a particular number of subframes (N_(PRS)) per positioning occasionand a particular periodicity (T_(PRS)). Thus, for example, a giventransmitting device may be configured to transmit one or more widebandPRS and one or more narrowband PRS.

Assistance data 116 (see FIG. 1) may be provided to mobile device 102 byother device(s) 114 (e.g., a location server, Enhanced Serving MobileLocation Center (E-SMLC), etc.), and may relate to a “reference cell”and one or more “neighbor cells” or “neighboring cells” relative to the“reference cell”. For example, in certain implementations, receivedassistance data may provide the center channel frequency of each cell,various PRS configuration parameters (e.g. N_(PRS), T_(PRS), mutingsequence, frequency hopping sequence, PRS ID, PRS bandwidth), a cellglobal ID and/or other cell related parameters applicable to OTDOA. Inthe case of a transmitting device (e.g., an eNB) that acts as apositioning only beacon, a neighbor cell or reference cell may beequated to the eNB with the same or similar assistance data beingprovided.

PRS positioning by a mobile device may be facilitated, for example, byincluding the serving cell for the mobile device in the assistance data(e.g., with the reference cell indicated as being the serving cell).Assistance data may also include “expected RSTD” parameters, whichprovide the mobile device with information about the RSTD values themobile device is expected to measure at its current location between thereference cell and each neighbor cell together with an uncertainty ofthe expected RSTD parameter. The expected RSTD together with theuncertainty define a search window for the mobile device within whichthe mobile device is expected to measure the RSTD value. Assistance datamay also include PRS configuration information parameters, which mayallow a mobile device to determine when a PRS positioning occasionoccurs on signals received from various neighbor cells relative to PRSpositioning occasions for the reference cell, and to determine the PRSsequence transmitted from various cells in order to measure a signalTime of Arrival (TOA) or RSTD. Thus, in certain implementations, asignal reception plan 270 (see FIG. 2) may be based, at least in part,on information relating to expected PRS positioning occasions, or thelike.

Using the RSTD measurements, the known absolute or relative transmissiontiming of each cell, and the known position(s) of a transmittingdevice's physical transmitting antennas for the reference andneighboring cells, mobile device's position location estimate may becalculated. For example, an RSTD for a cell “k” relative to a referencecell “Ref”, may be given as (TOA_(k)−TOA_(Ref)). TOA measurements fordifferent cells may then be converted to RSTD measurements (e.g. asdefined in 3GPP TS 36.214) and sent to a location server (e.g. E-SMLC)by a mobile device. Using (i) the RSTD measurements, (ii) the knownabsolute or relative transmission timing of each cell, and (iii) theknown position(s) of the transmitting device's physical transmittingantennas for the reference and neighboring cells, a mobile deviceposition location estimation may be determined.

Attention is drawn next to FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C, which are timelinediagrams illustrating periodic transmissions of signals, such as, forexample, PRSs, in accordance with some example implementations. Itshould be recognized that the scale of the example signals illustratedin FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C, and also FIG. 6, with regard to time andfrequency are not intended to be accurate nor limit claimed subjectmatter.

With this in mind, FIG. 5A is a timeline diagram illustratingtransmission of a first signal 502, for example, a PRS transmitted overa wideband PRS frequency band 510 with a center frequency 511. As shown,first signal 502 may comprise a plurality of transmissions 508 (e.g., atapplicable, periodic positioning occasions), each with a duration 513,and periodically separated by time 512, e.g., with reference to exampletime T1. By way of example only, wideband PRS frequency band 510 may be20 MHz, time 512 may be 160 ms, and duration 513 may correspond to onesubframe.

FIG. 5B is a timeline diagram illustrating transmission of a secondsignal 504, for example, a PRS transmitted over a narrowband PRSfrequency band 518 with a center frequency 519. As shown, second signal504 may comprise a plurality of transmissions 516, each with a duration521, and periodically separated by time 520, e.g., with reference toexample time T1. By way of example only, narrowband PRS frequency band518 may be 5 MHz, time 520 may be 40 ms, and duration 521 may correspondto two subframes.

FIG. 5C is a timeline diagram illustrating transmission of yet anotherexample second signal 506, for example, a PRS transmitted in accordancewith a frequency hopping scheme using a narrowband PRS frequency band524. For example, transmissions 522-1, 522-2, 522-3, and 522-4 areillustrated as each having a narrowband PRS frequency band centered,respectively, at center frequencies 523-1, 523-2, 523-3, and 523-4. Asshown, transmissions 522-1, 522-2, 522-3, and 522-4 each have a duration527 and are periodically separated by time 526, e.g., with reference toexample time T1. By way of example only, narrowband PRS frequency band524 may be 1.4 MHz, time 526 may be 80 ms, and duration 527 maycorrespond to four subframes.

Time T1, as shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C, is intended simply torepresent that the transmissions of first signal 502 and second signals(504, 506) may, in some implementations, be synchronized or otherwisetemporally related in a known or determinable manner (e.g., each mayhave a particular offset from a specific point in time or specific pointin a transmission sequence, etc.).

Turning next to FIG. 6, an example graph 600 is shown which illustratesmobile device reception of multiple transmitted signals, for example, a(wideband) first signal 502, a (narrowband) second signal 504 and a(narrowband, frequency hopping) second signal 506, e.g., as presented inFIGS. 5A, 5B AND 5C, respectively. While several signals are shown ingraph 600 relative to one another and to time (X axis) and frequency (Yaxis), it should be understood that this depiction of the signals isillustrative only and not drawn to scale. Graph 600 is presented simplyto show that a mobile device 102 (see, FIG. 1) may, under certainconditions, be configured to opportunistically receive two or moresignals during a reception window over a reception frequency band.

With this in mind, wideband first signal 502 (comprising transmissions508-1 and 508-2), narrowband second signal 504 (comprising transmissions516-1 through 516-5) and narrowband frequency hopping second signal 506(comprising transmissions 522-1 through 522-4) are illustrated as havingbeen transmitted by different transmitting devices. As such theseexample signals, as illustrated, may arrive at the mobile device atdifferent times, e.g., due to differences in transmitting devicelocation, time of flight, etc.

As shown in graph 600, there may be some frequency overlap in suchsignals, as well as some time overlap. In graph 600, as shown by example(dashed line) region 602, there is at least partial frequency overlapbetween wideband signal transmission 508-1 and narrowband signaltransmission 516-1. Also, as shown in region 602, there is at least sometime overlap between wideband transmission 508-1 and narrowbandtransmission 516-1, and some time overlap between narrowbandtransmission 516-1 and narrowband transmission 522-1.

As may be appreciated, region 602 in FIG. 6 may correspond to areception frequency band 604 with a center frequency 606, and areception window 608. As mentioned, a signal reception plan 270 (seeFIGS. 2 and 3) may be applied to a receiver 210 to opportunisticallyreceive and measure signals, for example, such as, possibly at leastpartially time and frequency overlapping wideband and narrowband PRSsignals. Thus, in certain implementations, a signal reception plan 270may indicate at least one reception frequency band 604 and at least onecenter frequency 606, or possibly other like information. Likewise, anexample signal reception plan 270 may indicate at least onecorresponding reception window 608 or possibly other like information.

Although region 602 is shown as having a reception frequency band 604that extends (at both higher and lower boundaries) beyond the varioustransmission signal bandwidths it encompasses, in other instances one orboth such frequency boundaries may align with an applicable boundary ofat least one of the signal transmissions being encompassed. Similarly,although region 602 is shown as having a reception window 608 thatoccurs earlier and runs longer than the corresponding boundaries of thevarious transmission signal durations being encompassed, in otherinstances one or both such time boundaries may align with an applicabletime boundary of at least one of the signal transmissions beingencompassed. Furthermore, although region 602 is shown encompassingindividual transmissions (e.g., single measurement occasions) 508-1,516-1 and 522-1, it should be understood that in certain instances, areception window 608 may be increased to encompass a plurality oftransmissions (e.g., two or more measurement occasions) for at least oneof the signals. Further, it should be understood that region 602 may incertain instances be set to have one or more frequency relatedboundaries, one or more time related boundaries, or some combination ofsuch boundaries that may or may not be aligned to similar frequency/timeboundaries corresponding to the encompassed signal transmissions.

Reference is made next to FIG. 7A, which is a block diagram illustratinga process 700 that may be performed, at least in part, by a mobiledevice 102 or apparatus 104 provided therein (see FIG. 1) to receivesignals for use in position location estimation, in accordance withcertain example implementations.

At example block 701, assistance data 250 may be received, e.g., bymobile device 102 or apparatus 104, from one or more devices. Receivedassistance data 250 may be indicative of a plurality of signals that areexpected to be transmitted by one or more transmitting devices. By wayof some examples, assistance data 250 may indicate that certain PRS,CRS, or other like signals may be received for possible use in positionlocation.

At example block 702, all of a part of a signal reception plan 270 orthe like may be generated or otherwise identified, for example, based,at least in part, on received assistance data 250 (see FIGS. 2 and 3).Hence, example block 702 may comprise identifying at least a firstsignal to be transmitted over a first frequency band and a second signalto be transmitted over a second frequency band during a reception window608 (see FIG. 6), wherein the second frequency band is narrower than thefirst frequency band and at least a portion of the second frequency bandis outside of the first frequency band. Example block 702 may generateor otherwise identify all of a part of a signal reception plan 270 orthe like further based, at least in part, on one or more indications ofsignal measuring capability 260 associated with mobile device 102.

At example block 704, mobile device 102 or apparatus 104 may implementor otherwise apply at least a portion of the signal reception plan 270to subsequently receive at least the first signal and the second signalvia a receiver 210 tuned to a reception frequency band that encompassesat least the first frequency band and the second frequency band.

At example block 706, mobile device 102 or apparatus 104 may measure afirst time of arrival corresponding to reception of the first signal anda second time of arrival of corresponding to reception of the secondsignal.

At example block 708, mobile device 102 or apparatus 104 may obtain alocation position that may be based, at least in part, on one or more ofthe measured times of arrival, e.g., from block 706.

Reference is made next to FIG. 7B, which is a block diagram illustratinga process 720 that may be performed, at least in part, by a mobiledevice 102 or apparatus 104 provided therein (see FIG. 1) to receivesignals for use in position location estimation, in accordance withcertain example implementations.

Although only two signals are described in processes 700, it should beunderstood that the process may be applied to three or more signals,possibly including various mixtures of “wideband” signals and“narrowband” signals. For example, region 602 in FIG. 6 illustratespotential reception of three signal transmissions encompassed by exampleregion 602.

As illustrated, process 720 may comprise example blocks 701, 702, 704,and 706 of process 700 as described in the preceding example. Process720 may further comprise, shown herein as part of example block 708, oneof more of example blocks 709 and 710. Also, as illustrated, process 720may include example block 712 in certain implementations.

In example block 709 (which may be implemented as part of block 708, forexample), mobile device 102 or apparatus 104 may transmit a signal to atleast one other device, the signal being indicative of the first time ofarrival measurement, the second time of arrival measurement, or both(e.g., as measured in example block 706.

At example block 710 (which may be implemented as part of block 708, forexample), mobile device 102 or apparatus 104 may obtain via reception aposition location of the mobile device, wherein the position location isbased, at least in part, on the first time of arrival measurement, thesecond time of arrival measurement, or both. Thus, for example, incertain instances, in process 700 of FIG. 7A as part of example block708, a position location may be obtained by determining such onboardmobile device 102 or apparatus 104. In other instances, example block710 all or part of such position location determinations may beperformed by one or more devices external to mobile device 102, forexample, based on the transmitted signal(s) from example block 709 andreceived by mobile device 102 or apparatus 104. In still otherinstances, as part of example block 708, position locationdeterminations may be performed in-part by mobile device 102 orapparatus 104, and in-part by one or more other devices external tomobile device 102.

At example block 712, a mobile device 102 or apparatus 104 may transmitan indication of signal measuring capability 260 of the mobile device toone or more other devices 114 (see FIGS. 1-3). As shown in exampleprocesses 900 and 920 in FIGS. 9A and 9B, respectively, an indication ofsignal measuring capability 260 of a mobile device may be used, at leastin part, to possibly generate assistance data 116 or possibly generatesignaling data 150 (see FIG. 1).

Attention is drawn next to FIG. 8, which is a schematic diagramillustrating certain features of a portable electronic device 800comprising mobile device 102. It should be understood that the examplefeatures shown in portable electronic device 800 are not intended toshow an exhaustive list of features that may be provided within a mobiledevice.

As illustrated, mobile device 102 may comprise one or more processingunits 202 (e.g., to perform data processing in accordance with certaintechniques provided herein) coupled to memory 204 via one or moreconnections 206 (e.g., one or more electrical conductors, one or moreelectrically conductive paths, one or more buses, one or morefiber-optic paths, one or more circuits, one or more buffers, one ormore transmitters, one or more receivers, etc.). Processing unit(s) 202may, for example, be implemented in hardware or a combination ofhardware and software. Processing unit(s) 202 may be representative ofone or more circuits configurable to perform at least a portion of adata computing procedure or process, including but not limited toprocessing of received assistance data, generating and/or applying asignal reception plan or the like with respect to at least one receiver,determining one or more indications of measuring capabilities,processing received signal data, initiating signal transmissions,accessing memory, executing instructions, estimating a positionlocation, etc. By way of example but not limitation, a processing unitmay include some form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC), one or moreprocessors, controllers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, applicationspecific integrated circuits, digital signal processors, programmablelogic devices, field programmable gate arrays, or the like, or anycombination thereof. Processing unit(s) 202 may include but are notlimited to general application processors and dedicated sensorprocessor(s). Processing unit(s) 202 may receive and analyze sensormeasurements and initiate transmission and reception of data messages,control messages, measurements, etc., through communication interface208 or through interface mechanisms 814. Processing unit(s) 202 mayinitiate the activation, de-activation and/or solicitation of various(optional) sensors 806 on mobile device 102.

Memory 204 may be representative of any data storage mechanism. Memory204 may include, for example, a primary memory 204-1 and/or a secondarymemory 204-2. Primary memory 204-1 may comprise, for example, a randomaccess memory, read only memory, etc. Memory 204 may store datarepresenting various information (e.g., values, measurements), orvarious instructions, or the like. While illustrated in this example asbeing separate from the processing units, it should be understood thatall or part of a primary memory may be provided within or otherwiseco-located and coupled with a processing unit 202 or other likecircuitry within the mobile device. Secondary memory 204-2 may comprise,for example, the same or similar type of memory as primary memory and/orone or more data storage devices or systems, such as, for example, asolid motion state memory drive, etc. In certain implementations,secondary memory may be operatively receptive of, or otherwiseconfigurable to couple to, a non-transitory computer readable medium820. Memory 204 and/or non-transitory computer readable medium 820 maycomprise, for example, instructions 822 for use in performing dataprocessing, e.g., in accordance with the applicable techniques asprovided herein.

Communication interface 208 may, for example, comprise one or more wiredand/or wireless network interface units, radios, modems, etc.,represented here by one or more receivers 210 and one or moretransmitters 212. It should be understood that in certainimplementations, communication interface 208 may comprise one or moretransceivers, and/or the like. Further, it should be understood thatalthough not shown, communication interface 208 may comprise one or moreantennas and/or other circuitry as may be applicable given thecommunication interface capability.

In accordance with certain example implementations, communicationinterface 208 may, for example, be enabled for use with various wiredcommunication networks, e.g., such as telephone system, a local areanetwork, wired or wireless, an object or body-based network such as anetwork of Bluetooth or other short range transceivers connected to thebody, a wide area network, a personal area network, an intranet, theInternet, etc.

In accordance with certain example implementations, communicationinterface 208 may, for example, be enabled for use with various wirelesscommunication networks such as a wireless wide area network (WWAN), awireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network(WPAN), an object or body-based network, (such as a local Bluetoothnetwork), and so on. The term “network” and “system” may be usedinterchangeably herein. A WWAN may be a Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA) network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, aFrequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an OrthogonalFrequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a Single-CarrierFrequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) network, and so on. A CDMAnetwork may implement one or more radio access technologies (RATs) suchas cdma2000, Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), Time Division Synchronous CodeDivision Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), to name just a few radiotechnologies. Here, cdma2000 may include technologies implementedaccording to IS-95, IS-2000, and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network mayimplement Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), DigitalAdvanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMBP capability), or some other RAT. GSMand W-CDMA are described in documents from a consortium named “3rdGeneration Partnership Project” (3GPP). Cdma2000 is described indocuments from a consortium named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2”(3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A WLAN mayinclude an IEEE 802.11x network, and a WPAN may include a Bluetoothnetwork, an IEEE 802.15x, for example. Wireless communication networksmay include generational family technologies (e.g., “4G”, “5G”, etc.),such as, for example, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE, WiMAX,Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), and/or the like. Additionally,communication interface(s) 208 may further provide for infrared-basedcommunications with one or more other devices. A WLAN may, for example,comprise an IEEE 802.11x network, and a WPAN may comprise a Bluetoothnetwork, an IEEE 802.15x, for example. A WPAN may be used tointerconnect multiple mobile devices on the same person or in the nearbyenvironment, such as those utilized to communicate between variousmobile devices on a person or object to send and receive sensor data,commands, battery indications and other mobile device information and/orcommands. Wireless communication implementations described herein mayalso be used in connection with any combination of WWAN, WLAN or WPAN.

Representative interface mechanism 814 may, for example, comprise one ormore input and/or output units that may be used to obtain inputs fromand/or provide outputs to one or more other devices and/or a user. Thus,for example, interface mechanism 814 may comprise various buttons,switches, a touch pad, a trackball, a joystick, a touch screen, akeyboard, a microphone, a camera, an eye tracker, and/or the like, whichmay be used to receive one or more user inputs. In certain instances,interface mechanism 814 may comprise various devices that may be used inproducing a visual output, an audible output, and/or a tactile outputfor a user. For example, interface mechanism 814 may be used to presenta video display, graphical user interface, positioning and/or navigationrelated information, visual representations of electronic map, routingdirections, etc., via a display mechanism and/or audio mechanism.

Representative sensor(s) 806 may represent one or more environmentalsensors, such as, e.g., a magnetometer or compass, a barometer oraltimeter, etc., and which may be useful for positioning and/ordetermining a certain movements. For example, sensor(s) 806 mayrepresent one or more inertial sensors, which may be useful in detectingcertain movements. Thus, for example, sensor(s) 806 may comprise one ormore accelerometers, one or one or more gyroscopes. In someimplementations sensor(s) 806 may comprise and/or take the form of oneor more input devices such as a sound transducer, a microphone, acamera, a light sensor, etc.

In certain instances, sensor(s) 806 may generate analog or digitalsignals that may be stored in memory 204 and processed by DPS(s) (notshown) or processing unit(s) 202 in support of one or more applicationssuch as, for example, applications directed to positioning or navigationoperations based, at least in part, on one or more positioningfunctions.

In certain instances, mobile device 102 may comprise a satellitepositioning system (SPS) receiver 818 for acquiring SPS signals 121 (seeFIG. 1) via one or more antennas (not shown). SPS receiver 818 may alsoprocess, in whole or in part, acquired SPS signals 121 for estimating aposition location and/or a motion of the mobile device. In certaininstances, SPS receiver 818 may comprise one or more processing unit(s)(not shown), e.g., one or more general purpose processors, one or moredigital signal processors DSP(s), one or more specialized processorsthat may also be utilized to process acquired SPS signals, in whole orin part, and/or calculate an estimated location of the mobile device. Incertain implementations, all or part of such processing of acquired SPSsignals may be performed by other processing capabilities in a mobiledevice, e.g., processing unit(s) 202, memory 204, etc., in conjunctionwith SPS receiver 818. Storage of SPS or other signals for use inperforming position location may be performed in memory 204 or registers(not shown).

Processing unit(s) 202 or communication interface 208 may comprise adedicated modem processor or the like that may be capable of performingbaseband processing of signals acquired and down converted atreceiver(s) 210 of communication interface 208 or SPS receiver 818.Similarly, a modem processor or the like may perform baseband processingof signals to be up converted for transmission by (wireless)transmitter(s) 212. In alternative implementations, instead of having adedicated modem processor, baseband processing may be performed by ageneral purpose processor or DSP (e.g., general purpose and/orapplication processor). It should be understood, however, that these aremerely examples of structures that may perform baseband processing, andthat claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. Moreover, itshould be understood that the example techniques provided herein may beadapted for a variety of different electronic devices, mobile devices,transmitting devices, environments, position fix modes, etc.

Attention is drawn next to FIG. 9A, which is a block diagramillustrating a process 900 that may be implemented, at least in part, byone or more computing platforms supportive of a wireless networkenvironment, for example, as may be provided, at least in part, by oneor more other devices(s) 114 in FIG. 1. Process 900 may be implementedto generate/provide assistance data 116 to a mobile device 102 (seeFIGS. 1-3) for use in receiving signals for position locationestimation, in accordance with certain example implementations.

At example block 902, a computing platform may receive at least oneindication of signal measuring capability from a mobile device. Forexample, an apparatus 104 in mobile device 102 may provide one or moreindications of signal measuring capability 260 (see, FIGS. 2 and 3) toother device(s) 114 (FIG. 1). By way of further example, an indicationof signal measuring capability may correspond to a maximum receptionfrequency band supported by receiver of the mobile device. In anotherexample, an indication of signal measuring capability may correspond toa maximum number of signals that a receiver or other component of themobile device may be able to simultaneously process (e.g., decode,measure, etc.), process within some defined period of time, possibly asdata store in memory, etc. In yet another example, an indication ofsignal measuring capability may correspond to maximum reception windowvalue or the like. In certain implementations, a computing platform mayreceive one or more indications of signal measuring capability for themobile device from one or more other devices. For example, a database orother repository or possibly service resource may provide one moreindications of signal measuring capability for a specific mobile device,a specific apparatus within a mobile device, a specific class of mobiledevices, etc., that may have been previously determined or otherwiseidentified in some manner.

At example block 904, a computing platform may generate assistance datafor the mobile device based, at least in part, on one or moreindications of signal measuring capability. For example, assistance datamay indicate that certain transmitting devices should be transmittingcertain signals, and which may therefore be of potential use by mobiledevice 102 or apparatus 104 in generating or otherwise identifying allor part of signal reception plan 270 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) or the like. Incertain implementations, assistance data 116 may comprise all or part ofsignal reception plan 270 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) or the like. At exampleblock 906, a computing platform may provide at least a portion of theassistance data (generated at least in part at example block 904) to themobile device.

Attention is drawn next to FIG. 9B, which is a block diagramillustrating a process 920 that may be implemented, at least in part, byone or more computing platforms supportive of a wireless networkenvironment, for example, as may be provided, at least in part, by oneor more other devices(s) 114 in FIG. 1. Process 920 may be implementedto generate/provide signaling data 150 (see FIG. 1) to at least onetransmitting device for use in scheduling transmission of signals forposition location estimation, in accordance with certain exampleimplementations.

As shown, process 920 may comprise example block 902 as described, forexample, in the preceding description with regard to process 900. Inexample block 902, a computing platform may receive at least oneindication of signal measuring capability from a mobile device. Forexample, an apparatus 104 in mobile device 102 may provide one or moreindications of signal measuring capability 260 (see, FIGS. 2 and 3) toother device(s) 114 (FIG. 1).

In example block 908, a computing platform may generate signaling data150 (e.g., a schedule, plan, instruction, scheme, etc.) (see FIG. 1) forone or more transmitting devices based, at least in part, on one or moreindications of signal measuring capability for at least one mobiledevice (e.g., as per example block 902). For example, signaling data 150may indicate a PRS configuration or otherwise provide informationindicative of one or more future signal transmissions from thetransmitting device, possibly to include a muting pattern, etc. Hence,signaling data 150 may be used to coordinate signal transmissions from aplurality of transmitting devices. In certain instances, implementationof signaling data 150 by one or more transmitting devices may providesignal transmissions in a manner to support opportunistic receptionthereof by one or more mobile devices, e.g., as configured in accordancewith aspects/techniques presented herein. In example block 910, acomputing platform may provide at least a portion of the signaling data(generated at least in part at example block 908) to one or moretransmitting devices.

Attention is next drawn to FIG. 10, which is a block diagramillustrating some features of a computing platform 1000 that may beimplemented, for example, as a server 1001 provided in other device(s)114 (see FIG. 1) to support example techniques as provided herein aspart of a wireless network environment 100, process 900, process 920,etc. It should be understood that the example features shown incomputing platform 1000 are not intended to show an exhaustive list offeatures that may be provided within such devices. Also, it should beunderstood that transmitting devices and/or the like in wireless networkenvironment 100 may also comprise features similar to those presented inthe examples of portable electronic device 800 or computing platform1000, or some combination thereof.

As illustrated, server 1001 may comprise one or more processing units1002 (e.g., to perform data processing in accordance with certaintechniques provided herein) coupled to memory 1004 via one or moreconnections 1006 (e.g., one or more electrical conductors, one or moreelectrically conductive paths, one or more buses, one or morefiber-optic paths, one or more circuits, one or more buffers, one ormore transmitters, one or more receivers, etc.). Processing unit(s) 1002may, for example, be implemented in hardware or a combination ofhardware and software. Processing unit(s) 1002 may be representative ofone or more circuits configurable to perform at least a portion of adata computing procedure or process, including but not limited togenerating assistance data possibly including generating all or part ofa signal reception plan or the like with respect to at least one mobiledevice based, at least in part, on one or more indications of signalmeasuring capabilities, processing received signal data, initiatingsignal transmissions, accessing memory, executing instructions,estimating a position location, etc. By way of example but notlimitation, a processing unit may include some form of processorcircuitry as previously listed with respect to processing unit(s) 202,and may communicate with via communication interface 1008

Memory 1004 may be representative of any data storage mechanism, forexample, possibly including the examples present for memory 204

In certain implementations, memory 1004 may be operatively receptive of,or otherwise configurable to couple to, a non-transitory computerreadable medium 1020. Memory 1004 and/or non-transitory computerreadable medium 1020 may comprise, for example, instructions 1022 foruse in performing data processing, e.g., in accordance with theapplicable techniques as provided herein.

Communication interface 1008 may, for example, comprise one or morewired and/or wireless network interface units, radios, modems, etc.,including by way of possible example those presented for communicationinterface 208.

Attention is drawn once again to wireless network environment 100 inFIG. 1, which as presented in the various preceding examples may beconfigured to support both wideband and narrowband signaling by varioustypes of transmitting devices to a mobile device configured toopportunistically receive and measure a plurality of such signals forposition location purposes without having to retune or otherwise adjusta receiver for each expected signal. Below are some additional detailswith regard to some further example implementations, which are notnecessarily intended to limit claimed subject matter.

As described herein, in certain implementations wireless networkenvironment 100 may support radio access for various “Internet of Things(IoT)” devices or the like, such as, Long Term Evolution (LTE)narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) radio access, Cat-M1, CatNB1, e-MTC, LTE radioaccess with CIoT operational features, just to name a few examples.

In certain implementations, wireless network 106 may comprise an EvolvedPacket System (EPS) having an Evolved Universal MobileTelecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network(E-UTRAN) and an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) (not shown). The E-UTRAN andthe EPC may, for example, be part of a Visited Public Land MobileNetwork (VPLMN) that may at times be a serving network for mobile device102 and communicate accordingly with a Home Public Land Mobile Network(HPLMN) (not shown) for mobile device 102. It should be understood thata VPLMN E-UTRAN, a VPLMN EPC and/or a HPLMN may be interconnected vianetwork(s) 112. For example, the Internet may be used to carry messagesto and from different networks such as a HPLMN and a VPLMN EPC. Forsimplicity these networks and associated entities and interfaces are notshown. As shown, in this example, wireless network 106 may providepacket-switched services to mobile device 102. However, as those skilledin the art will readily appreciate, the various concepts presentedthroughout this disclosure may be extended to networks providingcircuit-switched services.

In this example, mobile device 102 may comprise any mobile deviceconfigured for the applicable radio access, e.g., NB-IoT, CIoT, LTEradio access, or the like. Mobile device 102 may be referred to as adevice, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobilestation (MS), a user equipment (UE), a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL)Enabled Terminal (SET) or by some other name and may correspond to (orbe part of) a smart watch, digital glasses, a fitness monitor, anautomobile, an appliance, a machine, a robot, a drone, a cellphone, asmartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a tracking device, a control device, orsome other portable or moveable electronic device. Mobile device 102 maycomprise a single entity or may comprise multiple entities such as in apersonal area network where a user may employ audio, video and/or dataI/O devices and/or body sensors and a separate wireline or wirelessmodem. Typically, though not necessarily, mobile device 102 may supportwireless communication with one or more types of Wireless Wide AreaNetwork (WWAN) such as a WWAN supporting Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), WidebandCDMA (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Narrowband Internet of Things(NB-IoT), Enhanced Machine Type Communications (eMTC) also referred toas LTE category M1 (LTE-M), High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), WiMax, etc. AVPLMN EPC combined with a VPLMN E-UTRAN, and a HPLMN, may be examples ofa WWAN. Mobile device 102 may support wireless communication with one ormore types of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) such as a WLANsupporting IEEE 802.11 WiFi or Bluetooth® (BT). Mobile device 102 maysupport communication with one or more types of wireline network such asby using a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or packet cable for example.Although FIG. 1 shows only one mobile device 102, there may be manyother mobile devices that can each correspond to mobile device 102.

Mobile device 102 may enter a connected state with a wirelesscommunication network that may include a E-UTRAN. In one example, mobiledevice 102 may communicate with a cellular communication network bytransmitting wireless signals to, and/or receiving wireless signalsfrom, a cellular transceiver, such as an eNB in the E-UTRAN. A E-UTRANmay comprise a plurality of eNBs. An eNB may provide user plane andcontrol plane protocol terminations toward mobile device 102. An eNB maybe a serving eNB for mobile device 102 and may also be referred to as abase station, a base station device, a base transceiver station, a radiobase station, a radio transceiver, a radio network controller, atransceiver function, a base station subsystem (BSS), an extendedservice set (ESS), or the like.

Mobile device 102 also may transmit wireless signals to, or receivewireless signals from, a transmitting device (e.g., of FIG. 1) that maycomprise a local transceiver, such as an access point (AP), femtocell,Home Base Station, small cell base station, Home Node B (HNB) or HomeeNodeB (HeNB), which may provide access to a wireless local area network(WLAN, e.g., IEEE 802.11 network), a wireless personal area network(WPAN, e.g., Bluetooth network) or a cellular network (e.g. an LTEnetwork or other wireless wide area network such as those discussed inthe next paragraph). Of course it should be understood that these aremerely examples of networks that may communicate with a mobile deviceover a wireless link, and claimed subject matter is not limited in thisrespect.

Examples of network technologies that may support wireless communicationin wireless network environment 100 include NB-IoT, but may furtherinclude GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, LTE, HRPD, eMTC and future Fifth Generation(5G) radio types. NB-IoT, CIoT, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, eMTC and 5G aretechnologies defined by (or expected to be defined by) 3GPP. CDMA andHRPD are technologies defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project2 (3GPP2). WCDMA is also part of the Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS) and may be supported by an HNB. Cellular transceivers,such as eNBs, may comprise deployments of equipment providing subscriberaccess to a wireless telecommunication network for a service (e.g.,under a service contract). Here, a cellular transceiver may performfunctions of a cellular base station in servicing subscriber deviceswithin a cell determined based, at least in part, on a range at whichthe cellular transceiver is capable of providing access service.

An eNB may be connected by an interface (e.g., the 3GPP S1 interface) toa VPLMN EPC. An EPC may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME), anda Serving Gateway (SGW) through which data (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP)packets) to and from mobile device 102 may be transferred. An MME may bea serving MME for mobile device 102 and may be a control node thatprocesses signaling between mobile device 102 and the EPC and supportsattachment and network connection of mobile device 102, mobility ofmobile device 102 (e.g. via handover between network cells) as well asestablishing and releasing data bearers on behalf of mobile device 102.An MME may also support User Plane (UP) data transfer to and from mobiledevice 102 using a 3GPP CIoT feature known as CIoT Control Plane (CP)optimization in which data packets are transferred to and from themobile device via the MME, rather than by bypassing the MME, in order toavoid the overhead of establishing and releasing data bearers for themobile device 102. Generally, the MME provides bearer and connectionmanagement for mobile device 102 and may be connected to a SGW and eNBs,an E-SMLC and a Visited Gateway Mobile Location Center (V-GMLC) in theVPLMN EPC.

An E-SMLC may support position location of mobile device 102 using the3GPP control plane (CP) location solution, by way of example, as definedin 3GPP technical specifications (TSs) 23.271 and 36.305. The V-GMLC,which may also be referred to simply as a Gateway Mobile Location Center(GMLC), may provide access on behalf of an external client or anothernetwork (e.g. a HPLMN) to the position location of mobile device 102. Anexternal client may, for example, comprise a web server or remoteapplication that may have some association with mobile device 102 (e.g.may be accessed by a user of mobile device 102 via a VPLMN E-UTRAN, aVPLMN EPC and a HPLMN) or may be a server, application or computersystem providing a position location service to some other user or userswhich may include obtaining and providing the location of mobile device102 (e.g. to enable a service such as friend or relative finder, assettracking or child or pet location).

A HPLMN may comprise a Home Gateway Mobile Location Center (H-GMLC) thatmay be connected to the V-GMLC (e.g. via the Internet), as well as aPacket Data Network Gateway (PDG) that may be connected to a SGW (e.g.via the Internet). A PDG may provide mobile device 102 with InternetProtocol (IP) address allocation and IP and other data access toexternal networks (e.g. the Internet) and to external client(s) andexternal server(s), as well as other data transfer related functions. Insome cases, a PDG may be located in a VPLMN EPC and not in a HPLMN, forexample, if mobile device 102 receives local IP breakout. A PDG may beconnected to a location server, such as a Home Secure User PlaneLocation (SUPL) Location Platform (H-SLP) or the like. An H-SLP may, forexample, support the SUPL UP location solution defined by the OpenMobile Alliance (OMA) and may support location services for mobiledevice 102 based on subscription information for mobile device 102stored in an H-SLP. In some embodiments, a Discovered SLP (D-SLP) or anEmergency SLP (E-SLP) (not shown in FIG. 1), may be provided or may beaccessible from a VPLMN EPC, may be used to locate mobile device 102using the SUPL UP solution.

An H-GMLC may be connected to a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) for mobiledevice 102, which may comprise a central database that containsuser-related and subscription-related information for mobile device 102.An H-GMLC may provide location access to the mobile device 102 on behalfof external clients. One or more of an H-GMLC, PDG, and H-SLP may beconnected to an external client, e.g., through another network, such asthe Internet. In some cases, a Requesting GMLC (R-GMLC) located inanother PLMN may be connected to an H-GMLC (e.g. via the Internet) inorder to provide location access to mobile device 102 on behalf ofexternal clients connected to the R-GMLC. An R-GMLC, an H-GMLC and aV-GMLC may support location access to the mobile device 102, forexample, using the 3GPP CP solution defined in 3GPP TS 23.271.

In particular implementations, mobile device 102 may have circuitry andprocessing resources capable of obtaining position location relatedmeasurements, such as measurements for SPS signals 121, measurements forsignals 111-1, . . . , 111-n, and/or 119 from (typicallyterrestrial-based) their corresponding transmitting devices, which maycomprise eNBs, and/or measurements signals from other localtransceivers. Mobile device 102 may further have circuitry andprocessing resources capable of computing a position fix or estimatedposition location of mobile device 102 based on all or some of theseexample position location related measurements. In some implementations,all or part of some of the signal measurements obtained by mobile device102 may be provided (e.g., transmitted) to a location server or thelike, such as an E-SMLC, H-SLP, etc., after which a location server orthe like may estimate or determine a position location for mobile device102 based on the provided measurements.

Location related measurements obtained by mobile device 102 may includemeasurements of signals received from SVs belonging to SPS 120. SPS 120may comprise, for example, a GNSS such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo orBeidou and/or may include measurements of signals received fromterrestrial transmitters fixed at known locations (e.g., such as an eNBor possibly other local transceivers). Mobile device 102 or a separatelocation server may obtain a position location estimate for the mobiledevice 102 based, at least in part, on position location relatedmeasurements using any one of several position methods such as, forexample, GNSS, Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Advanced Forward LinkTrilateration (AFLT), OTDOA, Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), WiFi, orcombinations thereof. In some of these techniques (e.g. A-GNSS, AFLT andOTDOA), pseudoranges or timing differences may be measured by mobiledevice 102 relative to three or more terrestrial transmitters fixed atknown locations or relative to four or more SVs with accurately knownorbital data, or combinations thereof, based at least in part, on pilotsignals, PRS or other positioning related signals transmitted by thetransmitters or SVs and received at the mobile device 102. Here,location servers, such as an E-SMLC or an H-SLP, may be capable ofproviding positioning assistance data to mobile device 102 including,for example, information regarding signals to be measured by mobiledevice 102 (e.g., expected signal timing, signal coding, signalfrequencies, signal Doppler, etc.), locations and/or identities ofterrestrial transmitters, and/or signal, timing and orbital informationfor GNSS SVs to facilitate positioning techniques such as A-GNSS, AFLT,OTDOA and ECID. The facilitation may include improving signalacquisition and measurement accuracy by mobile device 102 and/or, insome cases, enabling mobile device 102 to compute its estimated locationbased on the location measurements. For example, a location server maycomprise an almanac (e.g. a Base Station Almanac (BSA)) which indicatesthe locations and identities of transmitting devices in a particularregion or regions such as a particular venue, and may further containinformation descriptive of signals transmitted by these transceivers andtransmitters such as signal power, signal timing, signal bandwidth,signal coding and/or signal frequency, just to name a few examples. Inthe case of ECID, a mobile device 102 may obtain measurements of signalstrength (e.g. received signal strength indication (RSSI) or referencesignal received power (RSRP)) for signals received from transmittingdevices (e.g., eNBs and/or local transceivers) and/or may obtain asignal to noise ratio (S/N), a reference signal received quality (RSTQ),or a round trip signal propagation time (RTT) between mobile device 102and transmitting device. Mobile device 102 may transfer measurements toa location server to determine a location for mobile device 102, or insome implementations, mobile device 102 may use measurements togetherwith assistance data (e.g. terrestrial almanac data or GNSS SV data suchas GNSS Almanac and/or GNSS Ephemeris information) received from thelocation server to determine a location for mobile device 102.

In the case of OTDOA, in certain example implementations, mobile device102 may measure a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) betweensignals, such as PRS, a Cell-Specific Reference Signal (CRS), or thelike received from nearby transmitting devices. An RSTD measurement mayprovide the time of arrival difference between signals (e.g. CRS or PRS)received at mobile device 102 from two different transmitting devices(e.g. an RSTD between signals received from two base station devices orthe like). Mobile device 102 may return the measured RSTDs to a locationserver which may compute an estimated position location for mobiledevice 102 based on known locations and known signal timing for themeasured transceivers. In some implementations of OTDOA, the signalsused for RSTD measurements (e.g. PRS or CRS signals) may be accuratelysynchronized by the transceivers or transmitters to a common universaltime such as GPS time or coordinated universal time (UTC), e.g., using aGPS receiver at each transceiver or transmitter to accurately obtain thecommon universal time.

An estimate of a position location of a mobile device 102 may bereferred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix,position, position estimate or position fix, and may be geodetic,thereby providing location coordinates for the mobile device 102 (e.g.,latitude and longitude) which may or may not include an altitudecomponent (e.g., height above sea level, height above or depth belowground level, floor level or basement level). Alternatively, a locationof the mobile device 102 may be expressed as a civic location (e.g., asa postal address or the designation of some point or small area in abuilding such as a particular room or floor). A location of a mobiledevice 102 may also include an uncertainty and may then be expressed asan area or volume (defined either geodetically or in civic form) withinwhich the mobile device 102 is expected to be located with some given ordefault probability or confidence level (e.g., 67% or 95%). A locationof a mobile device 102 may further be an absolute location (e.g. definedin terms of a latitude, longitude and possibly altitude and/oruncertainty) or may be a relative location comprising, for example, adistance and direction or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates definedrelative to some origin at a known absolute location. In the descriptioncontained herein, the use of the term position location may comprise anyof these variants unless indicated otherwise. Measurements (e.g.obtained by mobile device 102 or by another entity such as base stationdevice or the like) that may be used to determine (e.g. calculate) aposition location estimate for mobile device 102 may be referred to asmeasurements, location measurements, location related measurements,positioning measurements or position measurements and the act ofdetermining a location for the mobile device 102 may be referred to aspositioning of the mobile device 102 or locating the mobile device 102.

In one particular implementation, wireless communication system 200 mayemploy LTE access and synchronized signal transmission (e.g.synchronized PRS transmission). Other device(s) 114 in FIG. 1, mayinclude a location server and an almanac (not shown). A location serverand almanac may, for example, be included as part of a serving networkor may be attached to or reachable from a serving network. For example,a serving network may comprise a VPLMN EPC, and location server maycorrespond to an E-SMLC or an H-SLP in network or may be anotherlocation server such as a Standalone Serving Mobile Location Center(SAS) (not shown). A serving network may, for example, include one ormore transmitting devices, such as, a base station device operablyconnected to one or more antennas.

An almanac may represent a database structure or the like which may beprovided as part of or otherwise accessible by a serving network and/ora location server. An almanac may be configured to store identification,location parameters, etc., for the access points and base stations(e.g., eNBs) and antennas within a serving network.

“Instructions” as referred to herein relate to expressions whichrepresent one or more logical operations. For example, instructions maybe “machine readable” or “computer readable” by being interpretable by amachine for executing one or more operations on one or more dataobjects. However, this is merely an example of instructions and claimedsubject matter is not limited in this respect. In another example,instructions as referred to herein may relate to encoded commands whichare executable by a processing circuit having a command set whichincludes the encoded commands. Such an instruction may be encoded in theform of a machine language understood by the processing circuit. Again,these are merely examples of an instruction and claimed subject matteris not limited in this respect.

“Storage medium” or “computer readable medium”, may be usedinterchangeably, and as referred to herein may relate to media capableof maintaining expressions which are perceivable by one or moremachines. For example, a storage medium may comprise one or more storagedevices for storing machine-readable instructions or information. Suchstorage devices may comprise any one of several media types including,for example, magnetic, optical or semiconductor storage media. Suchstorage devices may also comprise any type of long term or short term,or volatile or non-volatile memory devices. However, these are merelyexamples of a storage medium, and claimed subject matter is not limitedin these respects.

The terms, “and,” and “or” as used herein may include a variety ofmeanings that will depend at least in part upon the context in which itis used. Typically, “or” if used to associate a list, such as A, B or C,is intended to mean A, B, and C, here used in the inclusive sense, aswell as A, B or C, here used in the exclusive sense.

While there has been illustrated and described what are presentlyconsidered to be example features, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, andequivalents may be substituted, without departing from claimed subjectmatter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation to the teachings of claimed subject matter withoutdeparting from the central concept described herein. Therefore, it isintended that claimed subject matter not be limited to the particularexamples disclosed, but that such claimed subject matter may alsoinclude all aspects falling within the scope of the appended claims, andequivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for use in obtaining a location of amobile device, the method comprising, with the mobile device: receivingassistance data that is indicative of a plurality of signals to betransmitted by one or more transmitting devices; identifying, based atleast in part on the assistance data, at least a first signal of theplurality of signals to be transmitted over a first frequency band and asecond signal of the plurality of signals to be transmitted over asecond frequency band during a reception window, wherein at least aportion of the second frequency band is outside of the first frequencyband and the second frequency band is narrower than the first frequencyband; subsequently receiving at least, the first signal and the secondsignal via a receiver tuned to a reception frequency band, wherein thereception frequency band encompasses at least the first frequency bandand the second frequency band; measuring a first time of arrivalcorresponding to reception of the first signal and a second time ofarrival of corresponding to reception of the second signal; andobtaining a location of the mobile device, wherein the location isbased, at least in part, on the first time of arrival measurement, thesecond time of arrival measurement, or both.
 2. The method of claim 1,and further comprising, with the mobile device: transmitting a signal toat least one other device, the signal being indicative of the first timeof arrival measurement, the second time of arrival measurement, or both.3. The method of claim 2, wherein obtaining the location of the mobiledevice, comprises receiving the location of the mobile device from theat least one other device.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theplurality of signals comprise a position referencing signal (PRS), acell-specific reference signal (CRS), or both.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the first frequency band comprises a first positioning referencesignal (PRS) frequency band, and the second frequency band comprises asecond PRS frequency band.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein, during thereception window, the first signal is transmitted over at least awideband PRS frequency band and the second signal is transmitted over anarrowband PRS frequency band.
 7. The method of claim 1, and furthercomprising, with the mobile device: identifying, based at least in parton the assistance data, at least a third signal of the plurality ofsignals to be transmitted during the reception window, wherein the thirdsignal is to be transmitted using a third frequency band that is outsideof the first frequency band; and subsequently receiving at least, thefirst signal, the second signal and the third signal via the receivertuned to the reception frequency band, wherein the reception frequencyband encompasses at least the first frequency band, the second frequencyband and the third frequency band; and measuring a third time of arrivalcorresponding to reception of the third signal.
 8. The method of claim1, and further comprising, with the mobile device: transmitting, toanother device, an indication of signal measuring capability of themobile device, and wherein the assistance data is based, at least inpart, on the indication of signal measuring capability.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first signal is transmitted by a base stationdevice, and the second signal is transmitted by an Internet of Things(IoT) device.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein a time of transmissionof the first signal and a time of transmission of the second signal aresynchronized.
 11. A mobile device comprising: a receiver configured toreceive assistance data that is indicative of a plurality of signals tobe transmitted by one or more transmitting devices, the receiver beingfurther configured to tune to a reception frequency band to receive atleast a first signal of the plurality of signals transmitted over afirst frequency band and a second signal of the plurality of signalstransmitted over a second frequency band during a reception window,wherein the reception frequency band encompasses at least the firstfrequency band and the second frequency band, at least a portion of thesecond frequency band is outside of the first frequency band, and thesecond frequency band is narrower than the first frequency band; and aprocessing unit coupled to the receiver and configured to determine thereception frequency band and the reception window based, at least inpart, on the assistance data, measure a first time of arrivalcorresponding to reception of the first signal and a second time ofarrival corresponding to reception of the second signal, and obtain alocation of the mobile device, wherein the location is based, at leastin part, on the first time of arrival measurement, the second time ofarrival measurement, or both.
 12. The mobile device of claim 11, andfurther comprising: a transmitter coupled to the processing unit, andwherein the processing unit is further configured to initiatetransmission of a signal to at least one other device via thetransmitter, the signal being indicative of at least the first time ofarrival measurement, the second time of arrival measurement, or both.13. The mobile device of claim 12, and wherein the processing unit isfurther configured to obtain the location of the mobile device from theat least one other device via the receiver.
 14. The mobile device ofclaim 11, wherein the plurality of signals comprise a positionreferencing signal (PRS), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), orboth.
 15. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the first frequencyband comprises a first positioning reference signal (PRS) frequencyband, the second frequency band comprises a second PRS frequency band.16. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein, during the reception window,the first signal is transmitted over at least a wideband PRS frequencyband and the second signal is transmitted over a narrowband PRSfrequency band.
 17. The mobile device of claim 11, and furthercomprising: a transmitter coupled to the processing unit, and whereinthe processing unit is further configured to initiate transmission, toanother device via the transmitter, of an indication of signal measuringcapability of the mobile device, and wherein the assistance data isbased, at least in part, on the indication of signal measuringcapability.
 18. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the first signaland the second signal are transmitted by one transmitting device. 19.The mobile device of claim 11, wherein a time of transmission of thefirst signal and a time of transmission of the second signal aresynchronized.
 20. The mobile device of claim 11, and further comprising:memory coupled to at least the processing unit and configured to storedata indicative of: the reception frequency band, the first signal, thefirst frequency band, the second signal, the second frequency band, thereception window, the assistance data, the first time of arrival, thesecond time of arrival, the location of the mobile device, a widebandPRS frequency band, a narrowband PRS frequency band, a measurementoccasion, a measurement gap, an indication of signal measuringcapability of the mobile device, or some combination thereof.